Fabrication and magnetic properties of novel beehive-like superparamagnetic magnetite/polystyrene nanocomposite microspheres

摘要

We report here a novel and simple synthetic strategy for fabricating beehive-like superparamagnetic magnetite/polystyrene nanocomposite microspheres by W/O/W interfacial reaction. Amphipathic magnetite nanoparticles surface-modified with oleic acid act as an oil-soluble emulsifier and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as a water-soluble surfactant in the double emulsion. The final products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron diffraction (TEM) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) which showed the formation of beehive-like magnetite/polystyrene nanocomposite microspheres with the size of 1-4 μm. Magnetic hysteresis loop measurements revealed that both magnetite nanoparticles and beehive-like nanocomposite microspheres displayed superparamagnetism.